Johnny Depp alleges Amber Heard 'painted-on bruises' and claims he is the 'victim' since she caused him 'serious bodily harm'
Johnny Depp is accusing his ex-wife Amber Heard of abusing him in his first declaration as part of his $50 million defamation lawsuit against her. On Monday, Depp submitted a new, detailed declaration to a Virginia courthouse, once again calling Heard's domestic violence allegations against him "fabricated," and "categorically" false.
It all started again in March when Depp sued her for defamation after she wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described being an alleged victim of domestic violence. While she never mentioned Depp by name, the actor’s lawsuit called her allegations against him a “hoax.” Depp’s lawyers also say that the op-ed negatively affected Depp’s career, claiming that it cost him the role of Jack Sparrow in the ongoing 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise. They say it was written to boost Heard’s profile before the premiere of ' Aquaman' three days later.
'The Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald' actor, 55, submitted a statement giving his first-person account of his relationship with the 'Aquaman' actress, 33, on Monday, in court documents obtained by People. “I have denied Ms Heard’s allegations vehemently since she first made them in May 2016 when she walked into court to obtain a temporary restraining order with painted-on bruises that witnesses and surveillance footage show she did not possess each day of the preceding week,” Depp began. “I will continue to deny them for the rest of my life. She was the perpetrator, and I was the victim,” he alleged. “While mixing prescription amphetamines and non-prescription drugs with alcohol, Ms Heard committed innumerable acts of domestic violence against me, often in the presence of a third-party witness, which in some instances caused me serious bodily harm.”
“I never abused Ms Heard or any other woman,” he added.
Heard “purported to write from the perspective of ‘a public figure representing domestic abuse’ and claimed that she ‘felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out’ when she ‘spoke up against sexual violence,” Depp’s lawyers state in the lawsuit obtained by PEOPLE. “The op-ed depended on the central premise that Ms Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her.”
“Mr Depp never abused Ms Heard. Her allegations against him were false when they were made in 2016.” Depp’s lawyers say in the lawsuit. His lawyers go on to say that op-ed’s “implication that Mr Depp is a domestic abuser is false,” and that the allegations were refuted by police officers, a “litany” of neutral witnesses and 87 surveillance camera videos. “In contrast, Amber Heard’s lawyer says ‘the evidence, in this case, is clear,’ and then presents none,” the statement concluded.
Heard, 32, shot back by filing more than 300 pages of documents, expanding on the abuse allegations she lodged against Depp during their divorce in the summer of 2016. She attached multiple pages of photos of herself with bruises on her face, scars on her arms and hair allegedly torn from her head, plus pictures of wrecked rooms – broken glass and overturned furniture – that she says Depp inflicted on their home. She included screenshots of dozens of text messages describing these incidents at the time and excerpts of her divorce deposition describing shocking abuse.
Heard’s lawyer Eric George denied the allegations against the actress, saying, “The evidence, in this case, is clear: Johnny Depp repeatedly beat Amber Heard. The increasingly desperate attempts by Mr Depp and his enablers to revive his career by initiating baseless litigation against so many people once close to him — his former lawyers, former managers, and his former spouse — are not fooling anyone.”
Heard and Depp married in 2015. In May 2016, she filed for a domestic violence restraining order against him, accusing him of abusing her. Depp denied the claims, and the former couple settled their divorce out of court in August 2016 for $7 million, which she donated to charity. Both actors had even signed NDAs barring them from discussing their relationship publicly. Heard's lawyers want the lawsuit moved to California where most of the alleged abuse (by either) took place, although documents in the case describe incidents that took place in Australia, Japan and the Bahamas.
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